The Beginning of the End
by ImaginIsa
Summary: Ashoka walked away from the Jedi Temple and never looked back. She left behind her Master and the Captain of her squad: Sky-guy and Rexster. But they were never Sky-guy and Rexster after that. They couldn't be...not without Snips, the Little One. No one knew it yet, but it was the beginning of the end.
**Author's Note:** I don't own Star Wars and all affiliated characters. If you like my work and don't mind original characters, check out my story "The Satellite." If you want to read about how I think Torrent Squad reacted to Order 66, check out my one-shot "The Choice."

 **The Beginning of the End**

"General!"

At the voice of his second-in-command, Anakin Skywalker stiffened. But he didn't turn around. As if he could will Ashoka back to the Temple if he didn't move. As if he could change her mind by pure strength of will. But Ashoka had always been able to fight against him. That was what had made her the perfect padawan for him. And now...

"General Skywalker?" The concern in Rex's voice was almost palpable.

"Yes, Rex?" Anakin's voice sounded dull, even to himself.

"Is everything...? Is it Commander Tano, sir?"

"In a way," Anakin whispered.

"Sir, I...I don't understand." Rex was beside him now, searching Anakin's face for some sort of answer. Anakin lifted up his hand to show Rex the string of silver beads he had clutched in his robotic palm. Ashoka's padawan string, what she wore instead of a braid. Now nothing but a string of beads. Practically worthless, made of scrap she had found around the Temple when she was thirteen.

"I don't understand," Rex said again. But there was a slight trembling to his voice that made Anakin think that he was lying.

"She's gone, Rex," said Anakin harshly. He could feel his tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "There is no more Commander Tano. She refused the Council's offer to come back and she...she...she's gone. Just gone!" Anakin's voice had risen to a shout. There was a small cracking noise as the strength of the robotic hand shattered the beads. Silver scrap fell to the ground. Anakin uncurled his fingers and let the ruined ornament fall.

"I'll never have another padawan," Anakin vowed softly.

"Sir..." Rex's voice was definitely shaking. "Sir, did she leave without saying good-bye?"

Anakin started and looked at Rex properly for the first time, his brown eyes were wide and he was clutching his helmet just a bit too tightly. Struggling not to cry or shout or do something rash and inappropriate for a Captain of the GAR.

Anakin could only nod. It was silent for a moment, both men looking at the broken beads lying on the ground.

"I better go tell the men," Rex whispered and then he fled.

Anakin fell to his knees. And began to gather the pieces of the beads.

Rex sat in the barracks alone. Torrent Squad was still out enjoying a free night in Coruscant. They would return soon. For now...

He looked down at his helmet, hands trembling.

"She left without saying good-bye," he whispered.

Tears spilled down his cheeks.

"Pull yourself together," he told himself roughly. "The Jedi Council betrayed her...you know they did...and then you helped arrest her. Of course she didn't want to say good-bye! Of course..."

The tears were gathering on the surface of the helmet, trailing down the scratches from countless missions spent following Ashoka and Anakin.

The sound of the door sliding open startled Rex from his thoughts. Happy and somewhat drunk, Torrent Squad and a small group from the 212th came spilling in, bringing with them the scent of Coruscant. For a moment, Rex thought he'd be able to hide the fact that he'd been crying. He'd be able to stand tall in front of the men and tell them not to worry, Ashoka would be fine. Now, tomorrow they were getting shipped out. They had a job to do, and it was important to get a good night's sleep and if they woke up with hang-overs that was their own damn fault…

But Fives had already scanned the room and looked at him, had already seen the tears. "Rex! What happened?!" The alarm in Fives' voice made the room fall quiet almost instantly.

Rex impatiently brushed the tears away as he stood, trying to adopt the stance of the calm leader rather than a heart-broken friend. "Commander Tano decided to leave the Jedi Order," he announced to the quiet room. "We won't be seeing her again."

It was quiet for a few moments. Everyone struggling to wrap their minds (in some cases, somewhat intoxicated minds) around what had once seemed like impossible information.

"Did she already leave?" Jesse asked slowly.

Rex could only nod, the lump in his throat returning.

"Without saying good-bye?" Jesse demanded.

Rex sat back down.

" _Fierfek,_ " someone muttered.

"She'll be okay," Rex said, unable to meet the eyes of anyone else in the room. "She's tough. She'll be okay."

"But all she ever wanted was to be a Jedi," said Jesse. He was definitely tipsy, slurring his words as he stammered. "Why would she do that? Why would she leave? Why would she leave without saying good-bye to us? _Fierfek,_ we've watched her back for most of this war. Why…?"

"Jesse." Cody came to Rex's rescue, placing his hand firmly on Jesse's shoulder and forcing him to sit down. "Shut up, _ner vod._ You're not helping." Cody scanned the room and added, "Everyone, get to sleep. The war's not going to win itself. We've got a job to do."

Silently, the clones dispersed to get ready for bed. Rex was still sitting on his bunk, staring down at his hands.

"Rex?" Cody came over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Will you be okay?"

"I just…never imagined an end to this war that didn't have both Ashoka and General Skywalker in it, you know?"

Cody nodded. "I know…I look at the casualty numbers and Jedi are often a part of them but I can never imagine _my_ General being one of them."

"She's not dead!" Rex's voice came our harsher than he intended and a few of the troopers in the room froze where they stood. "Sorry," Rex muttered.

"I know," Cody said quietly. "But it amounts to much of the same thing. She's not coming back, Rex. You should…I'm sorry, but it will hurt less if you just block it away with…"

"All the rest of the casualties," Rex finished dully. Yes, Cody was right. He knew that Cody was right. He would have to pretend she was dead, store her memory in the same place where he stored the deaths of Hardcase and Heavy and Waxer and all the rest of the brothers he had lost. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to go on.

"I just…" Rex swallowed hard. "I wish she had said good-bye."

The transport was cold. Ashoka had traded a good portion of her credits for new clothes and a cape, but the heating was malfunctioning. It was probably warmer near the center of the ship but she couldn't tear herself away from the seat by the window, where she could see the stars shooting by at lightspeed and pretend that it was just another mission. But it wasn't.

She curled herself into a ball on her seat and refused to make eye contact with anyone. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know what she would do. And…and…

"I couldn't face saying good-bye," she whispered to the stars flashing outside. "I'm so sorry, Rex, but I couldn't say good-bye. To any of you…Jesse's probably going to yell at you, I'm sorry. And Kix will start worrying that I didn't take any rations. And Fives will rant about how I lost my lightsabers. And Cody will say something about regulations and about having to check in before I leave…and…and…Skyguy, I'm sorry…" She finally let the tears fall and cried herself to sleep in the dim light.


End file.
